Yahoo Finance Carla Hall Talks Judging, Cheating, And Mistakes At The National Gingerbread House Competition
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She's a cookbook author, former Top Chef contestant, and one-time co-host of The Chew—Carla Hall does it all. This also includes being on the judging panel for the 30th Annual National Gingerbread House Competition in Asheville, North Carolina. We sat down with her at the Omni Grove Park Inn to learn more about judging, gingerbread, and what's in store for her next.
When it comes to competitions, Hall knows what it's like to judge—and be judged. "As somebody who's competed, I've always wanted to get constructive criticism," she said. "For me, if they don't see me again, or if they get to go home, I'm hoping that they take away something that they can use in their career."
When judging the National Gingerbread House Competition, there's a variety of criteria judges look for, like technique, scale, and theme, and, since there are age brackets where children can compete, they make sure the entry wasn't made by the parent.
"When they say it's a five-year-old and all the corners are straight, you're like, ah, I don't know," she said.
The houses also have to be completely edible and 70 percent gingerbread, which judges calculate visually. One year, an illicit entry had a PVC pipe in it.
While Hall has judged a lot of gingerbread houses, she has made a few of her own. "I can appreciate the work that goes into it," she said. Hosting Holiday Baking Championship: Gingerbread Showdown on the Food Network also gave her an appreciation because she could actually watch contestants as they constructed their houses. Whereas at the National Gingerbread House Competition, entries are pre-assembled.
The biggest mistakes people make when making their houses? Too many embellishments, making a house that's not to scale, and not thinking about the whole entire house—not just the outside, but the inside, too.
Hall has been a judge for the national competition for several years, but what else is in store for her?
While she didn't have the best experience with her first restaurant, opening a new spot isn't completely off the table, she said. She paid rent for four years for her previous restaurant, but couldn't use the space because there was a stop work order.
As for right now, she's happy selling her famous dishes on Goldbelly.
"I think probably today, I feel more like it could happen again than what I said in the past. I'll leave the door open."
As for The Chew, the idea of a reboot is enticing, but not necessarily feasible.
"There are a lot of things that I do now that couldn't support both at the same time. I love the variety that my life has, but yet I love The Chew," she said. "I don't think it's possible to recreate it because it's not just the talent, but it's also the crew. It's all the producers, it's all of that."
The show also required shooting for 39 weeks out of the year.
"But let's say if it was possible and I could do it only three months out of the year, I would do it," she said. "But I would have so many restrictions because there are all these other things that I do."
What really excites her is having her own TV show. "My big dream, I want to do a one-woman show that's live," she said. "Cooking, comedy, and storytelling that travels."
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